“The Russian Boyan” or “the Roguish Exploiter of Moscow Patriotism”: D. A. Agrenev-Slavyansky and his “Slavic Chapel” in the Assessments of Contemporaries. Part 2

Abstract

Dmitry A. Agrenev (pseud. Agrenev-Slavyansky, 1834 or 1836‒1908) was the founder of the “Slavic Chapel”, one of the most popular choral teams in the Russian Empire in the last third of the 19th – early 20th cent. A radical discrepancy in contemporaries’ assessments of him was noted in Russian historiography on the history of choirs which performed Russian and Slavic folk songs and in research about the formation of the Russian theatrical culture. The personality of Slavyansky, his repertoire policy, his role in the popularization of the Russian song heritage were perceived as ambivalent. On the one hand, he was called the “Russian Boyan” and was praised for popularizing Russian culture in Russian Empire and abroad. On the other hand, he was reproached for falsifying folklore works, representing “the new songs” (gypsy and factory songs, romances of modern poets) as traditional folklore in the pursuit of profit. Music critics and composers (including outstanding ones, such as P. I. Tchaikovsky and S. I. Taneyev) expressed doubts about the authenticity of the folklore sources he collected and the accuracy of their musical processing for concert performance. The second part of the article consists of the interpretation of the severity of criticism of Slavyansky and his “Slavic Chapel”, which is tied to the formation of cultural ideas and ideological concepts of Russianness and “narodnost’” during the period of nation-building in the Russian Empire.

Received: 27.07.2024.
Revised: 17.09.2024.
Accepted: 16.09.2025.

Citation
Leskinen M. V. “The Russian Boyan” or “the Roguish Exploiter of Moscow Patriotism”: D. A. Agrenev-Slavyansky and his “Slavic Chapel” in the Assessments of Contemporaries. Part 2 // Slavic Almanac. 2025. No 3–4. P. 245–268 (in Russian). DOI: 10.31168/2073-5731.2025.3-4.13